5 ms·

Have you tried getting a bookkeeper to use GnuCash? Xero has a following as does SAGE/peachtree but not the good open source options. I did and it failed. No re

by rietta 5y ago

Have you tried getting a bookkeeper to use GnuCash? Xero has a following as does SAGE/peachtree but not the good open source options. I did and it failed. No reason except everyone in the CPA and bookkeeper business uses and knows QuickBooks. I have up and use and pay the kings transom for QBO so i can focus on my business and not play transaction level bookkeeper myself.

neltnerb 5y ago
I have! I ended up having to export my entire general ledger as an excel file for them to have any hope of using it. It cost me a ton of money and time to massage into a format that an accountant could work with, they are too expensive per hour to ask them to learn an entire new software program that I'm the only of their customers to use. Now I just use quickbooks. I have never had any issue. Gnucash is great and works fine for personal bookkeeping, but I wouldn't suggest it if you have an accountant.
- chromatin 5y ago
  > they are too expensive per hour to ask them to learn an entire new software program Many of us here are way more expensive per hour than our accountant ;) -- but to your metapoint that the accountant is more expensive than a new quickbooks subscription, that probably remains true even in the face of the price hike.
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    If you are not more expensive than your accountant, you should probably do the work yourself. You're not making enough money to pay extra to avoid taxes, and unoptimized taxes are easy enough.
    - neltnerb 5y ago
      This is only true if you will do the job correctly in a similar amount of time to your accountant. But I do agree, when I had just W2 income and a mortgage it was no big deal to do them myself. I definitely wouldn't use an accountant if my taxes were simple enough to handle it. They're just not that hard.
pbreit 5y ago
Sounds like an opportunity. Especially since a bookkeeper could be anywhere in the world.
- nickff 5y ago
  It's tough to do bookkeeping or accounting for businesses in multiple jurisdictions, as tax and accounting laws vary, and mistakes can be very costly. In addition to that, accounting and bookkeeping are often regulated professions with various restrictions.
- ilamont 5y ago
  I'm sure some back-office bookkeeping functions can be offshored, but others cannot. For instance, in the U.S., certain tax filings and other types of official paperwork require businesses and individuals to give permission to authorities to contact CPAs directly. In addition, tax laws are also very local, including state regulations (50 U.S. states + territories) and sometimes municipal and county regulations. This requires a level of expertise that few overseas-based bookkeepers would be able to work with.
  - rietta 5y ago
    You are also paying for credibility even at the small business side. As an s corp owner buying a house was much harder than it would be for a normal w2 engineer. The letter from our cpa was priceless in the process.

by rietta 5y ago

neltnerb 5y ago

I have! I ended up having to export my entire general ledger as an excel file for them to have any hope of using it. It cost me a ton of money and time to massage into a format that an accountant could work with, they are too expensive per hour to ask them to learn an entire new software program that I'm the only of their customers to use. Now I just use quickbooks. I have never had any issue. Gnucash is great and works fine for personal bookkeeping, but I wouldn't suggest it if you have an accountant.

chromatin 5y ago
> they are too expensive per hour to ask them to learn an entire new software program Many of us here are way more expensive per hour than our accountant ;) -- but to your metapoint that the accountant is more expensive than a new quickbooks subscription, that probably remains true even in the face of the price hike.
- HWR_14 5y ago
  If you are not more expensive than your accountant, you should probably do the work yourself. You're not making enough money to pay extra to avoid taxes, and unoptimized taxes are easy enough.
  - neltnerb 5y ago
    This is only true if you will do the job correctly in a similar amount of time to your accountant. But I do agree, when I had just W2 income and a mortgage it was no big deal to do them myself. I definitely wouldn't use an accountant if my taxes were simple enough to handle it. They're just not that hard.

pbreit 5y ago

Sounds like an opportunity. Especially since a bookkeeper could be anywhere in the world.

nickff 5y ago
It's tough to do bookkeeping or accounting for businesses in multiple jurisdictions, as tax and accounting laws vary, and mistakes can be very costly. In addition to that, accounting and bookkeeping are often regulated professions with various restrictions.
ilamont 5y ago
I'm sure some back-office bookkeeping functions can be offshored, but others cannot. For instance, in the U.S., certain tax filings and other types of official paperwork require businesses and individuals to give permission to authorities to contact CPAs directly. In addition, tax laws are also very local, including state regulations (50 U.S. states + territories) and sometimes municipal and county regulations. This requires a level of expertise that few overseas-based bookkeepers would be able to work with.
- rietta 5y ago
  You are also paying for credibility even at the small business side. As an s corp owner buying a house was much harder than it would be for a normal w2 engineer. The letter from our cpa was priceless in the process.